THE ETIOLOGY OF BERIBEKI. 67 



Doctor Eykman's investigations, mentioned above, from 188S to 1896 

 caused the sanitary inspector, Doctor Yorderman, to undertake a tour of 

 inspection through all the prisons in Java and Madura to gather exact 

 data on the prevalence of beriberi during the year 1895 and the first half 

 of 1896, and to collect samples of rice in order to discover whether any 

 connection could be established between the prevalence of beriberi in the 

 different prisons and the kind of rice consumed therein. 



The result of this inspection was as follows : 



Out of 52 prisons, where cleaned rice constituted the principal article of food, 

 37 were affected with beriberi, and the average percentage was 71.15. Out of 37 

 prisons, where«rice with the whole of the pericarp constituted the principal article 

 of food, 1 contained beriberi cases, and the average percentage was 2.7. Out of 

 12 prisons, where half-cleaned rice constituted the chief article of diet, 5 showed 

 beriberi to be present, and the average percentage was 41.46. 



The conclusion deduced from these figures, namely, that among men 

 a connection also exists between the prevalence of polyneuritis and rice 

 eating, although criticised by some, mnst be maintained. 



Last year I made a trip to the coal mines of Sawah Loents in Su- 

 matra. Cases of beriberi among the coolies working in the mines at 

 this place are very rare, and I ascertained that the rice eaten by these 

 men was half cleaned. 



Statistics on the frequency of beriberi among the Singkehs in the 

 tin mines at Blinjoe in 1908 apparently prove that beriberi was encoun- 

 tered twenty-four times as frequently among the coolies who eat cleaned 

 rice as among those who eat grain which has not lost all of its pericarp. 



Doctor G-rijns continued these investigations in our laboratory after 

 Doctor Eykman's departure for Holland in 1906. He did not succeed 

 in preventing an outbreak of polyneuritis among fowls fed on cleaned 

 rice by adding to the latter the different salts or the fat, contained in 

 the grain in a smaller quantity than in the pericarp. When the pericarp 

 itself was added in large quantity, then polyneuritis did not appear; 

 but small quantities of the pericarp only delayed its incidence. It was 

 impossible to extract the active constituents from the pericarp. 



The beans of Phaseohis radiatus Linn., termed hatjang idjo by the 

 Javanese, not only proved to be capable of preventing an outbreak of 

 the disease among fowls fed on boiled, cleaned rice, but even when it 

 had developed, the birds could very easily be restored to health by eating 

 hatjang idjo. Another variety, Gajanus indicus Spreng. (hatjang iris), 

 gave the same result. Investigations made in 1909 proved that many 

 other kinds of beans, namely, hatjang bogor (Voandzeia subterranea 

 Thou.), hatjang tjina (Arachis hypogaa Linn.), hatjang pandjang 

 (Vigna sinensis (Linn.) Endl.,) (V. catjang (Linn.) Walp.) have the 

 same properties. 



Katjang idjo loses its prophylactic and curative power when steamed 



